


It Happens

by CelestiaKnight



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Rin needs a hug, ryuuji is a good boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24327310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestiaKnight/pseuds/CelestiaKnight
Summary: These things happen. They just do.On their way back from a study session, Rin and Ryuuji make an unexpected encounter. It has bright eyes, and a body like a million festering flies.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 131





	It Happens

Ryuuji glanced toward the front row seats for the fifth time in under two minutes. Kirigakure-sensei’s words were distant as she made roll-call, going through each cram student’s name on her very short list.

“Moriyama Shiemi?”

“H-here!”

He watched as the timid blonde raised her hand. Today, she was sitting in the front row, alone, and it was clearly affecting her. She was uneasy, squirming in her seat, eyes glancing between her left and the door. He was, too.

“Okumura Rin?”

...

All eyes glanced at the front, where the half-demon usually sat, but as expected, his seat was empty. It had been unusually quiet in the classroom, without his constant yammering, laughing and often snoring, and Ryuuji could only scoff at how easy it was to disturb everyone’s little growing habits.

“Oh?” Kirigakure-sensei looked up from her list, lazily glancing up at the group of teenagers in front of her, eyeing around for that one dark tuft of hair. “Oh c’mon, he ain’t here? Thought I told him to get his shit together for today’s test. Tsk. Oh well, guess I’ll just kick his ass later-”

Her muttering was interrupted as she was scribbling down on her list by a rather out of place creaking noise that seemed to raise everyone’s hair, and Ryuuji looked up at the door, suddenly feeling his heart palpitate. Those palpitations weren’t of excitement, or of joy, or of relief. His eyes widened at the disheveled shape that dragged its way in through the doorway, like a ghoul wandering where it wasn’t supposed to.

“Sorry,” came Rin’s uncharacteristically raspy voice before Shura could reprimand his tardiness.

Oddly enough, there came no other excuses, and even Kirigakure-sensei looked surprised at that, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at the halfling. She vaguely gestured a hand toward the class.

“Just take yer seat, kid. You chose your day to be late. Alright, uh, where was I…”

Ryuuji kept watching with worry and furrowed brows as Rin slumped in his seat, dropping his bag and sword at his side almost carelessly. He looked… a lot worse than he was expecting, he’d be honest with himself. Baggy, dulled eyes, staring down at the closed books in front of him. Pale complexion, paler than he already was, almost see-through. His hair, a mess, like he had just gotten out of bed. His expression, continuously locked in a state of unresponsiveness, not even as Shiemi attempted to get his attention. He remained in this state through the rest of the class, and even as they worked away at a quiz on Magic Circles and Seals, Ryuuji kept glancing up at the younger teen, only to see him slouched over his sheet, holding his pen but clearly not writing anything. His gaze, unfocussed, as if it was far away…

Ryuuji sighed through his nose, trying to focus on the quiz but not finding the will (or was it capability?) to. Usually, he was good at pushing away his frustrations and worries when it came to studies, but this time, all he kept thinking about… was what he had witnessed the night before.

He recalled earlier that day, as he, Konekomaru and Shima were eating lunch at the cafeteria, shielded from the heavy autumn deluge outside, when Godain had approached them rather shyly and nervously. He had looked around them, as if expecting to see someone who wasn’t there.

“Hey, uhm… Have you guys seen Okumura-kun today? He wasn’t in class and isn’t responding to his texts, and I uhm... Is he sick?”

“Huh? Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him. What about you, Koneko-san?”

“I haven’t either…”

Shima and Konekomaru had expressed their confusion at the situation, both aware that Rin had made great efforts not to skip classes this year like he used to, and had each reached for their phone to try and contact their missing friend, but Ryuuji could only bite his tongue and stay quiet. He had looked at his own phone. Nothing, of course. He sent a single text.

_ ‘Hey. You doing alright?’ _

The answer came much later, shortly before cram school.

_ ‘no’ _

_ ‘tired’ _

He wasn’t surprised, but he also couldn’t say anything to the others. He had promised, and Ryuuji was such that he didn’t break promises.

When the bell rang and Kirigakure-sensei sent them off as she gathered the quiz sheets, it was usually in their established habits to group up and discuss the quiz, compare their answers and guess whether they passed or not, throwing jabs at those who realized their mistakes or didn’t understand a thing. But just as everyone started to put their things away, Okumura was already out the door, reduced to only a swish of his tail in the corner of their eyes.

“Wow. Someone’s not being subtle,” came Kamiki’s sarcastic tone, quickly followed by Shiemi’s light stuttery voice, fiddled with worry.

“I-I’m sure he has his reasons… He looked a bit tired…”

As Ryuuji stood up with his bag over his shoulder, a surprised choke came from the front of the class.

“Oi, what the hell? Dumbass didn’t even write a single answer! Ugh great, Four-eyes’ gonna-”

Kirigakure-sensei’s grumbles turned to mutters as she flipped through the rest of the papers, scratching her head in deep annoyance. Ryuuji didn’t wait for anyone else to ask more questions. With his usual fast stride, he walked out of the classroom too.

~~~

The night before, Rin had practically begged Ryuuji for his tutoring help regarding the upcoming quiz. Some of the things they had to study for this class completely went over his head, and as much as Ryuuji was annoyed at the half-demon’s antics…

“Pleaaaase, Suguro! I’ll repay you with a homemade yakisoba! I really gotta pass this class!”

“Dumbass, you gotta pass  _ all _ your classes!”

“All the more reasons to help me then!  _ Two _ yakisobas!”

...he couldn’t say no to those bright, hypnotizing, pleading blue eyes. In the end, he sold himself to the Devil’s son for the promise of yakisoba. As to not get bothered by Shima or Konekomaru, and to offer Rin a reason to focus, they decided to go on their own to their usual sweets shop, where they spent a good portion of the evening, studying away. It turned out that when Rin was offered a reward, in this case food, he could actually sit down and do his work without complaining, and Ryuuji was ready to exploit that to its fullest.

They left the shop long after dark, when Ryuuji was sure that Rin had memorized the most important facts and trivia regarding this specific chapter about magic circles, and he wasn’t that surprised that Rin was as peppy walking out as he had been walking in, walking backwards in front of him and chatting away. Ryuuji had to admit, this guy had nerves of steel. Watching his bright smile as he thanked him yet again for his help and the happy little hops in his step, one could completely forget that this guy’s life was still in the balance, an executioner’s axe always hovering above his neck. Either he couldn’t see it, or he was consciously ignoring it...

“Hehe! Now I’m gonna crush this test, watch me!”

“You should watch your step first. Stairs.”

He watched the half-demon stumble on his feet as he whirled around, just in time to catch a flight of stony steps. They weren’t far from the dorms now, but it was getting chilly. Ryuuji pulled his scarf tighter around his chin, briefly looking down at his phone to make sure he didn’t miss a call or text from his master. What stopped him wasn’t the poor puny joke his master had sent him an hour earlier, but Okumura’s back as he bumped right into him. Jerked back to awareness, Ryuuji first looked down at him, then followed his silent stare… In front of them, at the far end of the mid-stair platform they stood on, towered a large, imposing black mass. The young Aria in training widened his eyes, blinking to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, walking up next to Okumura, who stood very still. This demon was blacker than the darkness they stood in, seeming like a black hole against the landscape, and he would have thought that it was, if it weren’t for the way the mass moved and squirmed and morphed, as if made of living tar. Was it a blob of Coal Tars? Or an evil ghost perhaps? Whatever it was, it wasn’t supposed to be there! They were still on school grounds, the chairman’s barriers should be keeping those mid-level demons from coming in…

Before he could call for Okumura to run, the demon lunged forward, like an arrow directly pointed at him.

~~~

Rin closed the door to the old dorms, stuffing his key back into his shirt, and stood in the entrance for a moment that stretched for longer than he could perceive. The dorm was completely quiet.

“I’m home.”

His voice resounded down the hall, to what ears there could be to hear, and when only silence responded, he tightened his grip on his bag, and walked off to his shared room. He was hungry, but he didn’t feel he had the energy to cook anything. He felt dirty, but he didn’t think he had the energy to take a bath. He wanted to talk, but he didn’t have the energy to, nor anyone nearby to talk to. He could have stayed in class, he could have joined the others, but their presence was too much, their voices too loud. He wanted silence, but at the same time, wanted to hear people talk.

When he reached his room, he wasn’t surprised to find it vacant. Yukio’s bed was neatly made, disturbed only by a small crevice where Kuro had most likely slept, while his own was a mess, the covers thrown haphazardly on the floor. He dropped his bag and sword carelessly on his desk, and aimed right for his bed, dropping himself like a brick into his pillow, not even bothering to take his uniform off. He had only left his bed for the duration of the class, but it felt like he hadn’t laid down like this in years. He was all too happy to close his eyes and attempt to sleep again. Maybe now that it had been a day, he’d be able to…

~~~

Rin froze at the top of the stairs. His heightened vision immediately caught the anomaly standing very still on the other side of the platform. He could clearly see the buzzing, the morphing of the black substance, as if it was a cloud of flies festering on a piece of rotten meat. Tiny, pin needle-like eyes that would be impossible for a human to see were staring straight at him. Green, and incredibly bright, like car lights in the dark.

_ ‘Young… prince…’ _

By now, Rin had grown used to hearing those words when demons recognized his heritage, but he couldn’t stop his hair from standing on end at the raspiness and etherealness of that voice. Like they were many, speaking at once. Not supposed to be heard.

_ ‘A… gift… from… the Godflame…’ _

The half-demon felt his blood run cold. He knew all too well what that name referred to, and suddenly, his instincts screamed loudly in his ears, scraping his brain with claws. He wasn’t the one in danger.

“Okumura-”

The demon lunged forward, not toward him, but to his right, and Rin did the first thing his body thought to do. Listening to his gut was something he excelled at, and though it often brought chaos during missions, it also saved the day many times. This time was no exception.

Without a single breath, he pushed Suguro with all his might, not even taking an instant to see where he had sent him, and took the full brunt of the assault. At that moment, as the demon engulfed him in its squirming darkness, nothing felt real. But he had no regrets. Better him paying the price for his demonic blood than his friend. But… strangely enough, it didn’t hurt. He felt a breeze, and a strange warmth surrounded him...

When he opened his eyes, he was home. Not at the dorms, not in his room, but at the monastery he had grown in. The light filtering in through a window, the familiar blinds, the same bed and dresser… Blue flames, flickering in the corner of his vision.

**“Heehehehe!!”**

He whirled around. And met the jagged and burning eyes of Satan, upon the bloodied and grinning face of his father. He screamed.

~~~

Ryuuji quickly walked out of the classroom, hoping he’d be able to catch the half-demon in the hallway, but just his luck, the guy was nimble and fast when he wanted to be left alone. He bit his lip, conflicted on what he could do. Just like the night before, he was faced with the irredeemable fact that he absolutely sucked at comforting others. It wasn’t for a lack of caring, if anything he cared more than most… he simply wasn’t good at choosing the right words, and he didn’t feel he had them for his demon friend. And that fact alone made him terribly angry.

“So what’s the matter? You gonna run off on us too?”

Ryuuji looked down to his right, glancing at Kamiki as she walked past him in the hallway, first looking at where Okumura had gone, then back to him, with a clear knowing look about her eyes. The others all walked out as well, and they were all looking at him with a similar look, like they all knew that something fishy was going on.

“You’ve been quiet too, Bon,” Konekomaru spoke up gently yet firmly, always the one to notice these things. “Did something happen with Okumura-kun?”

Ryuuji sighed, feeling the conflict in him tighten around his chest, like demon arms holding on too tightly.

“Yeah, I know,” he replied, bowing his head. “I… can’t tell you everything that happened, but…”

“Did you two have a fight?” Shiemi asked, worry etched on her face, to which he quickly shook his head.

He sighed yet again, this one resolute. He met each of their gazes, reaffirming the fact that they were all simply worried for a friend. He had no right to feed that fire.

“Yesterday, as we were coming back from a study session in preparation for today’s test…”

~~~

The next thing he knew, Ryuuji was weightless, being thrown aside like he had been nothing but a rag doll, and he landed roughly on the concrete floor meters away from where he once stood. With a pained grunt and the distant feeling that his arm would get a nasty bruise from this, he quickly regained his awareness of the situation, but before he could even ascertain what had happened, he heard the most bone-chilling, most horrific scream he had ever heard. He snapped his head up, and had to blink to make sure he wasn’t seeing things from having hit his head.

The black demon had completely engulfed Okumura on the floor, reducing the both of them to a squirming mass of darkness, and though Ryuuji could see a few blue flames licking the floor around them, nothing fought back, nothing burned back… and Okumura was screaming. He felt his skin tickle with goosebumps, his hair stand on end like he was the one covered in that demonic mass. Those were the sounds of terror. Simple, primal terror. Was the demon attempting to possess him?! If so, there would be a lot of problems if it succeeded! Ryuuji quickly got up to his feet, mind racing. He didn’t know what exactly this demon was, but it appeared to be an evil ghost of some sort, and so he immediately went to a few wards he remembered for spirits like this. It wouldn’t exorcise it, but if it could hear him chant something, it might abandon its plan to possess Rin. He had to try something!

As he raised his mala at the demon, beads clinking together, and began reciting a first ward, his ears couldn’t help but catch a few words amidst the screaming.

_ “Get away from me!!” _

_ “I’m not-! I’m-! I’m not a demon!!” _

_ “I don’t wanna! I don’t wanna go to Gehenna!!” _

_ “Dad! Yukio!! Help!! Someone!!” _

It took two more ineffective wards before the demon’s nature briskly changed, and it reared itself atop its prey, slowly getting itself off of Okumura. Ryuuji couldn’t tell if it was looking at him, but he raised his voice all the same, walking closer as he continued chanting, and as soon as the final words left his mouth, the demon squirmed even more, its body raising itself fully and releasing Okumura from its hold. The next thing Ryuuji knew, a wall of blue fire erupted from the higher-ranked demon beneath it, blinding him in this darkness and causing him to recoil. He watched in stunned silence as the demon was quickly annihilated entirely by the raging flames, until, at last, there was nothing left of it.

All that remained, was the boy, curled up on the ground. He was suddenly so, so very small… Ryuuji immediately called his name, running over to kneel at his side, but the damage had been done. His eyes were wide and void of anything but fear, arms and legs shaking uncontrollably. His tail had wrapped itself up tightly around his knees, bristled and stiff, and his hands were covering most of his face, nails digging in his cheeks and forehead. He was staring ahead, at seemingly nothing, but clearly at  _ something _ .

“Okumura…,” the young worried Aria held a shaky hand forward, tentatively touching his shoulder, but Rin’s hand immediately snapped up, stopping him in his movement.

Rin remained there a moment longer, hand up and trembling, the other up to his mouth, taking short and raspy breaths. He swallowed thickly, blinking multiple times before words found his tongue again.

“I’m… I’m fine… I’m fine…”

“You are most definitely  _ not _ fine!” Ryuuji objected with a scowl, only to rear back a bit when he thought he heard Okumura growl.

He had closed his eyes, and only now, in the dark, did Ryuuji notice the tears streaming down the halfling’s cheeks. That expression on his face… Okumura wasn’t one to openly show his pain; he’d cry of joy before, of relief, of victory, of anger, but never had Ryuuji seen this deep of a pain on this face. It felt foreign, like it didn’t belong there, but had been there all along all the same.

“Just… just give me a minute…,” Rin murmured, not finding the strength to speak any louder.

And Ryuuji sat down next to his friend, unable to speak, or to find the correct words to say, watching as his breathing slowly evened, as his shaking slowly but not entirely subsided. He didn’t know what exactly he had seen in that demon’s body, but from the sounds he had heard… he could guess. And it only occured now to Ryuuji that Rin had never talked about  _ that night _ with them. He had only mentioned his late father in passing, and spoke only highly of him, but never did he give any details as to what took place that night. Most likely, he would take it to the grave, knowing him. As such, he hadn’t been given the time to grieve; the moment his life had been turned upside down, he had been forced into a lie and a game of pretend, one he still hadn’t let go of even after all that time. He hadn’t known how Okumura had truly felt all this time, but now he had an idea. And reality sunk in. Ryuuji sighed deeply.

“I’m gonna call Okumura-sensei-”

“No, don’t.”

“You need to see a doctor, we don’t know what this thing did to you.”

“No… don’t tell anyone. Please, never tell anyone about this. It’s fine, I’m fine. It happens. Promise you won’t tell anyone.”

“I…”

“Especially Yukio… he doesn’t need this right now, he’s got enough things to worry about… Please, Suguro…”

And those pleading, hurting, shimmering blue eyes locked with his own, and Ryuuji promised.

~~~

Rin didn’t know how long he had slept, but he did not feel any more rested. He awoke from a dream, the same dream he’d been having since last summer, drenched in sticky sweat, and he stayed still a moment, taking deep breaths, trying to even his racing heart. He was fine. Rin was fine, because these things happened. He scornly reminded himself that if he truly wanted to be an exorcist, he’d have to get used to this, and to stop being overly dramatic. He was just… tired. These things happened.

He raised his head from his pillow, wiping his sleeve on his drenched forehead, but he stopped in his tracks. A smell floated up to his nose, and he sniffed the air instinctively… Was that the smell of fried rice? Since when did Yukio cook? The guy couldn’t cook to save his life. Had he attempted it when he saw his brother was sleeping? Oh no, his kitchen would be on fire if he let that happen!

Both curious and with a twinge of fear, Rin rolled out of bed and quickly changed clothes, throwing his sticky uniform on the floor, opting for fresher, more comfortable clothes, before heading out in the hallway. As he made his way to the dorm kitchen, whose lights were on, he began to hear voices, echoing down the corridor...

“Alright, what next?”

“Ah! No no, wait, not like that, Kamiki-san!”

“Then how am I supposed to do it? Like this?”

“U-uh! Th-the eggs are burning I think!”

“Wow, Moriyama-san, you’re… really not good at this.”

“Shush! I’m t-trying!”

The scene that welcomed him in the kitchen was one he had never thought he’d see with his own eyes. They were all here. Suguro, Shiemi, Konekomaru, Izumo and Shima. All of them, struggling to juggle everything in the kitchen beyond the counter, and the smell of burning eggs filled the entire place, followed by the sounds of Shiemi trying to defend her eggs over Shima’s laughter and Konekomaru attempting to direct everyone in their tasks. And Rin stood there, in the doorway, completely baffled. Suguro, mixing bowl in hand, noticed him and raised a hand, calling with a smirk:

“Okumura! Come over here and give this a taste, will ya?”

“Quickly, before Moriyama adds her ‘special herbs’!” Shima snickered, receiving a light tap from the offended blonde in return.

And Rin smiled, for the first time that day. A true, genuine smile, however small it was.

These things happened, but they never lasted.

“Alright, I’ll taste it! You guys better not have ruined my pans, or else…”

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my first attempt at a longer AoEx fic! Still only a one-shot, so don't expect any follow-up on this. Hope you liked it! I have plenty more ideas for fics, long and short ones, so I hope you stick around!


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